The Final Combat
Every one welcome to fly at 10 EST. 23May2012
Artist Credit: Artwork by Rod Kirkby. Used with permission.
Click here to visit this artists website
Five days after the Nagasaki bomb, on August 14th 1945,Emperor Hirohito signed the peace
treaty and surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. Following the surrender, Hirohito ordered
the armed forces of Japan to stop all hostilities. However, some elements of the Japanese
Navy Air Force chose to ignore this order and continue fighting against the allied forces,
triggering a historic dogfight with British carrier-based aircraft above Tokyo bay. This would
be the final contested carrier air strike of World War Two...
August 15th 1945
On that morning, a British Fleet Air Arm attack group from the HMS Infatigable took off for
targets on Honshu island. The group consisted of six Avengers of the 820 Sqn, four Fairey
Fireflies of 1772 Sqn and eleven Seafires of 887 and 894 Sqns. The British were bounced by
twelve A6M5c Zeroes of the 302nd Kokutai, led by Lt Moriaka. They immediately went for
the bombers and close escort Seafires below. The top cover, lead by Sub-Lt Victor Lowden,
dove in to protect their friends below.
The 302nd Kokutai lost four Zeroes and pilots in the engagement: Lt Mitsuo Taguchi,
Lt Yoshikane Kuramoto and Chief Petty Officer Ikki Takeda. They claimed one kill in return,
along with two probables. This was very close to the mark, with the British actually loosing
two planes: A Seafire flown by Sub-Lt David Hockley, who managed to bailout but was
executed by the Japanese forces after being captured. Following the use of the atomic bomb
on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the Allied aircrew knew what would happen should they bail
out over the devastated country. Also, an Avenger took heavy damage during the
engagement and was forced to ditch in the sea before reaching the safety of the carrier.
Source: Aeroplane-magazine, June 2001 issue
Arena
SEA
Country Percentages
Allied: 60% of participants
Axis: 40% of participants
Allies:
Units:
60% Seafire from HMS Indefatigable (C85)
40% TBM from HMS Indefatigable (C85)
Orders:
Attack the Vehicle base of Hisaruki (V104)
Restrictions:
Seafires may not carry ordinance. Seafires must stay within icon range of the TBMs until
enemy planes are spotted.
Axis:
Units:
100% A6M5b from Astugi airbase (A15)
Orders:
Intercept Allied carrier strike aircraft inbound to the Tokyo area!
Restrictions:
None
Victory Conditions
20 points for each bomber that damages the target.
Bomber kills: 20 points
Fighter kills: 10 points each.
Arena Settings
1. Terrain: - Mindana09
2. Icon range - short
3. Radar - Enemy radar and dar bar off. Friendly dot dar enabled.
4. Fighter and bomber warning range - 26,400 feet
5. Tower warning range - 26,400 feet
6. Visibilty - 17 miles
7. Wind - none
8. External view for bombers (F3) - on
9. Friendly collisions - off
10. Enemy collisions - on
11. Kill shooter - off
12. Fuel burn rate - 1.0
13. Time: - 12:00
14. Ack - .4
Designer Notes
Have fun!
